Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Holdings in Murphy Oil Corporation $MUR

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC decreased its position in shares of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) by 6.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 400,193 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 27,481 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Murphy Oil were worth $13,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Murphy Oil by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,171,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $337,081,000 after buying an additional 238,326 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,572,610 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $174,144,000 after acquiring an additional 143,125 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Murphy Oil by 105.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,310,884 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $136,574,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700,498 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,656,394 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,468,000 after acquiring an additional 204,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Murphy Oil by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,056,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,423,000 after acquiring an additional 514,127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.31% of the company’s stock.

Murphy Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Murphy Oil stock opened at $35.22 on Thursday. Murphy Oil Corporation has a one year low of $21.86 and a one year high of $43.34. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.34.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.02). Murphy Oil had a return on equity of 6.63% and a net margin of 9.74%.The firm had revenue of $926.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $888.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Murphy Oil Corporation will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Murphy Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MUR shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a research note on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Murphy Oil in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Murphy Oil from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Murphy Oil has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.25.

Murphy Oil Profile

Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility.

Murphy Oil’s exploration and production activities are geographically diversified.